


In at the Top End

by JohnAmendAll



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M, Unconventional Courtship Generator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 19:59:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14655102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JohnAmendAll/pseuds/JohnAmendAll
Summary: Tegan breaks into the office of the mysterious, reclusive Supremo.





	In at the Top End

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by asking the [Unconventional Courtship Generator](http://www.seasip.info/Misc/ucrpg.html?char1=Fifth&char2=Tegan) for Five / Tegan prompts. It gave me this one:
>
>> 559) A Wild Justice by Gail Ranstrom
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Despite Lady Tegan Jovanka's determination to remain a spinster — the better to avenge wronged women — her passionate response to the Fifth Doctor, elusive Earl of Auberville, swept her into a web of desire beyond her wildest imaginings. Lord Auberville wanted a manageable wife who asked no questions — what he got was an independent woman with secrets...  
> 

At the discreet click of the door latch, Tegan froze where she was crouching, the detonator still in her hand. A moment later, the lights snapped on. There was a pause, a sharp indrawing of breath, and then a very familiar voice said " _Tegan?_ " 

Since it seemed that Tegan wasn't immediately going to be shot as an intruder, she rose to her feet and turned round. The Doctor was standing by the door, looking across the office at her with that baffled look that she remembered so well. 

"Tegan, what in the world are you doing here?" he said. 

"Taking down the Master, same as you." Tegan said. "That _is_ why you're here, isn't it?" 

The Doctor's puzzled look, if anything, intensified. "The Master?" 

"Going around calling himself the Earl of Auberville. Or the Supremo, from what I've heard. If someone calls himself the Supremo and holes up on the top floor of a tower block and never lets anyone see him, who else do you think it could be? You don't have to be a Time Lord to spot the signs." 

"Tegan, that's me. I'm the Earl of Auberville." 

"You?" Tegan paced across the lush carpet and poked the Doctor in the chest. "You're going round calling yourself the Earl?" 

"That's right." 

"And the Supremo?" 

"That wasn't my idea!" 

"So this is _your_ office?" 

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Yes, Tegan, it is." 

"Good job I didn't get round to blowing it up, then." Tegan tried to get her thoughts in order. "What on Earth do you think you're playing at?" 

"It's a long and complicated story. If I tell you, will you promise to keep it a secret?" 

"I'm not promising anything." 

"Then I think we're at an impasse." The Doctor crossed to where a group of comfortable-looking chairs stood around a low, glass-topped table. "Would you like something to drink?" 

Tegan threw herself into one of the chairs. "Tea'll do. Two sugars." 

There was a short interval while the Doctor busied himself making the tea, and then sat down opposite Tegan. 

"Could I ask you what your interest was in the Earl of Auberville?" he asked. 

"I told you, I thought it was the Master," Tegan said. 

The Doctor frowned. "So you decided to blow him up?" 

"Don't try to say he doesn't deserve it," Tegan said hotly. "Look, I know it's not the sort of thing you approve of, but someone's got to stop him. Look at what he did to Nyss." 

"It's not a good idea to take something like that into your own hands." 

"No-one else has done anything about him, have they?" Tegan took a gulp of tea. "When he tried to murder us all, did the Time Lords arrest him or anything?" 

"Point taken." The Doctor didn't look convinced, but then Tegan hadn't expected him to approve of her brand of direct action. "Do you mind telling me how you got in? This office is supposed to have tight security." 

"Up the rubbish chute," Tegan said briefly. "Guards like gorillas on the main door and nothing to stop anyone getting in round the back. After that I just had to jimmy the lift to get me to the real top floor." 

"It doesn't sound like the first time you've done something like that." 

Reluctantly, Tegan smiled. "I learned from the best. So, what happens now?" 

"That rather depends on whether you want to be part of what I'm doing, or not." 

"I promised myself I'd never get mixed up with you again—" Tegan broke off, at the sound of a knock on the door. Before she could say anything, it had swung open and a brunette who looked barely old enough to be out of school was standing in the doorway. 

"Supremo, I've got a reply from Sir Murdo about the fruitcakes—" she began, in an American accent. Then she caught sight of Tegan, and seemed to find herself lost for words. 

"Ah," the Doctor said. "Thank you, Miss Brown. I, ah, don't think you've met—" 

"I'm his wife," Tegan heard her own voice saying. 

"Oh. Yeah, that'd figure." It looked, from Miss Brown's expression, as if she might welcome a possible ally in the endless struggle to put up with the Doctor. "Nice to meet you, Mrs— Lady— Supremo—" 

"Just call me Tegan," Tegan said hastily. 

"Sure." Miss Brown essayed a smile. "I'll book your fitting for the ballgown on Monday, OK? And Supremo, I'll come back about Sir Murdo tomorrow morning." 

The Doctor gave her a distracted wave. Miss Brown backed away, closing the door behind her. 

"I'd ask what you saw in her," Tegan said. "But if she always dresses like that I think it's pretty obvious." 

"I hope you're not suggesting I've taken an improper interest in her," the Doctor said. 

Tegan shook her head. "I know what you're like around girls. But that doesn't mean you don't notice what we look like." She took a deep breath. "I think, whatever you're doing, I'm in it now." 

"I'm rather afraid you are." 

"You know, I promised myself last time I wouldn't get mixed up with you again. So much for that." Tegan drained her cup of tea. "All right, whatever you're up to, I won't tell. Except it's something you need a wife for, right?" 

"Someone everybody thinks is my wife, at least," the Doctor said. "Someone who can keep her head in a tight spot." 

"Meaning I can't. Well, you're stuck with me now." Tegan put her empty cup back on its saucer. "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer and the rest of it. Do you think I won't be able to keep my mouth shut?" 

The Doctor looked as if he was trying to hide a smile. "I'm sure we can rely on your common sense, Tegan." 

"Can't be any worse than relying on yours. Right, then." Tegan sat back in her chair. "I'll leave you to get on planning whatever you're doing with fruitcakes and ballgowns, and I'll start working on our wedding." 

"Wedding?" the Doctor repeated. 

"If I'm going to be your wife we'd just better have had a proper wedding. I'll work out what's going to have happened, and then we can pop back in the TARDIS and do it all." Tegan favoured her 'husband' with a triumphant look. "What's the good of having a time machine if you can't use it for something like that?"


End file.
